Chicken Breasts in Champagne Sauce

Chicken Breasts simmered in Champagne Sauce it may not be one of the prettiest dishes around, but it's certainly one of the tastiest.

You know, this is one of those dishes where I just have to say "Look past the photos!" 'Cause let's face it, these chicken breasts are just plain unattractive. But I promise you, what they lack in good looks, they more than make up for in great flavor!

But in my humble opinion, how can something made with champagne {or sparkling wine, if we want to be politically correct} not have great flavor?

Yes, I am a fan of the bubbly.

Or 'bubbles,' as my best friend and I say. As in, "Would you like a glass of bubbles?" Mmm hmmm, I'm such a fan I even have a Pinterest board called Bubbles.

Love the stuff.

So it's really no surprise that I love this champagne chicken. And it just so happens to be one of my hubby's favorites, too.

One of the things we love about this is, while the champagne sauce is truly a very simple sauce, it packs really great flavor. Yes, the sauce is a simple combination of gently-cooked onion, celery, mushrooms, and champagne thickened with a touch of cream. That's it.

The chicken breasts are cooked in the sauce, making them nice and tender. And the sauce is then spooned on top when served.

Add a little rice to the mix, and you've got yourself one pretty quick and delicious meal. That truly tastes soooo much better than it looks!

And I have to admit that photographing this chicken was probably one of the most frustrating photo shoots I've done. The first challenge was that I usually shoot on white dishes. Well, ummmm ... have you looked at the chicken? There's really not a stitch of color in it. A white dish just wasn't going to help the situation. At all.

So I grabbed pretty much the only non-white plate I own. And did the best I could with it.

Which still wasn't great.

And then it seemed that no matter what I did, I just couldn't make the shoot work. I don't know if it was the lighting that day. Or if I just didn't really feel like doing a photo shoot. Or what.

But sometimes it's like that. 'Cause photographing food can be really hard. Let me tell ya, after three years of photographing for this blog, I truly have developed HUGE respect for all the professional photographers out there! It takes a lot more to create a beautiful photo than I ever imagined.

So anyway, you may just want to ignore the photos in this post. While Chicken Breasts in Champagne Sauce might not be the prettiest dish around, in our book it is one of the tastiest!

Chicken Breasts in Champagne Sauce

Source: Adapted from Cooking Light magazine
(Printable recipe)

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 T. butter
3/4 c. finely diced onion (about 1 small onion)
1/2 c. finely diced celery
3/4 c. finely diced fresh mushrooms (not quite all of an 8 oz. package)
1/3 c. chicken broth
2/3 c. champagne
2/3 c. heavy cream or whole milk
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
Salt & pepper

Directions

Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and pepper on both sides. Place chicken between sheets of waxed paper; using a meat mallet (the smooth side), flatten to approximately 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick. Set aside.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add diced onion, celery, and mushrooms; saute for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and a dash of salt; cover, reduce heat to low, and cook vegetables gently for 5 minutes. (The vegetables should not brown add a smidge more broth during cooking, if needed.)
Push vegetables to the edges of the skillet, add remaining 1 tablespoon of butter to the center of the pan, and increase heat to medium. Quickly dredge chicken in flour, shaking off the excess, and add chicken to the pan.
Cook chicken for 2 minutes. Then turn chicken over and strew the vegetables from the edges of the pan on top of the chicken.
Add champagne to the pan and let it bubble up for about 10 seconds. Stir in cream (or milk). Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook gently for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Serve over cooked rice.

Enjoy!

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